Sunday, December 14, 2008

When 3V is not 3V

I thought the battery in my parents' new motherboard was fine. It said 3V on the battery. It read a hair over 3 volts on my multimeter.

Then I did a little research on lithium batteries, and discovered that even though the 'nominal voltage' is 3V, the 'open-circuit voltage' (what my multi-meter was reading) is supposed to be 3.7, on a full charge that is.

In case anyone is wondering, nominal roughly means 'in name only'. In other words, 'we'll call it one thing when it's really another'. For more examples of nominal, see pipe sizes in plumbing, which can be a little mind-boggling for a novice.

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